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From: af421@cfn.cs.dal.ca (Nicole McLearn)
Subject: REPOST Q+Q
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Someone asked for these to be reposted, so here they are:
Q PLUS Q
The sky was hot and red above; the sand burned below. The desert
expanse stretched to the horizon, the only living things in sight some
carrion birds circling far off on the horizon and the two figures laboriously
crossing the sand.
The one in front was a woman who looked to be about thirty, although
the delicate points of her ears and yellowed complexion hinted that, as a
Vulcan, she was probably older than her apparent age. Behind her, with
carefully measured strides, walked a pale-faced individual in a yellow
Starfleet uniform. Neither of them spoke; the woman felt no logical need
to make small talk, and the android was following what he had learned of
Vulcan social etiquette.
The woman signalled to stop. "I believe there's a good chance of
finding samples there," she said, pointing to a streak of sand that had been
stained a slight blue.
The android bent down to get a closer look. "I would agree, Doctor,"
he said, opening the bag slung off of his shoulder and extracting a set of
vials.
The Vulcan woman squinted up at the sun, only halfway to the zenith
but already scorching hot. "I'd estimate that we won't have time to collect
any more samples," she said. "The time looks to be about four hours past
sunrise, and your ship is scheduled to arrive at 11.74 Vulcan time."
"Affirmative," the android replied. "The Enterprise will enter orbit
approximately forty-six minutes from now."
There was a pause in the conversation while the android fitted sieves
onto the tops of the vials and, with a series of deft, sure movements, sifted
them through the sand with his pale hands. He then packed the vials back
into the bag and stood up.
"We had better return now," he said. "We will most likely not have
time to process these samples, as you will need to go through the Vulcan
travel offices before leaving the planet's surface."
The woman nodded. "I will leave the samples with my lab assistants.
They can generate the raw data and, if all goes well, it will fit with our
preliminary conclusions." She paused. "I must say, Commander Data, that
it has been most instructive to have worked with you. I think that your
insights will make it much easier to come to a decision on the Ligonian
algae."
Data nodded in acknowledgment. "Thank you, Doctor," he said. "The
work that we have been doing here is actually very similar to a series of
experiments that I conducted during my exobiology studies at Starfleet
Academy, which also involved foreign microorganisms infiltrating an
established ecosystem."
The woman raised an upturned eyebrow. "And what experiments were
those?"
"They concerned Earth bacteria that had contaminated the western
continent of Cestus III," Data said as they began to walk. "I spent two
months there as part of a program to give Academy students offworld
experience. In some ways, it was not unlike the time that you will be
spending with us on the Enterprise."
"Yes, the Enterprise. It should be fascinating to conduct research from
a Galaxy-class starship."
"I am curious," Data said, then paused diffidently for a moment. "Does
the prospect of being on the Enterprise hold any particular meaning for
you?"
"Why would it?" the woman asked, raising an eyebrow.
"While examining your records prior to meeting you, I noticed that you
are, in fact, Sedyn, daughter of Saavik, who served at one point as a
lieutenant on the Enterprise 1701-A."
"Ah." There was a slight change in Sedyn's expression that might have
been a Vulcan smile. "That is not a logical reason for anticipation, as there
is no physical continuity between the present Enterprise and the ship which
my mother served on. Yet..." she paused, "it is a somewhat compelling
reason nonetheless."
Data nodded slightly in acknowledgement, and the two of them
continued to walk across the Vulcan desert.
"Make it so," Captain Picard ordered in a squeaky, high-pitched voice.
A miniature Data, barely tall enough to reach the console from his chair,
keyed in a few commands. "The temporal amom...amom..." he stuttered.
"Anomaly," Mrs. Claire, one of the Enterprise teachers, whispered from
her chair at the side of the bridge.
"An-o-ma-ly," Data said carefully, "has been closed."
"Good job, Captain," said a tiny Riker standing beside the captain's
chair. "You've saved the day again." He scratched at his strapped-on
beard as all of the children got up and bowed to the real Enterprise crew,
who were sitting by Mrs. Claire in a row of chairs. As they applauded, the
children together yelled out "Happy Captain Picard Day!"
The real Picard struggled to maintain a serious face as his seven-year-
old double, wearing a mock Starfleet uniform and a latex skullcap to hide
his hair, came up and presented him with a card that had been signed by all
of the children.
"Thank you very much," Picard said gravely, looking at the names
scribbled in multicolored crayon. He turned it over, and found a portrait of
himself with an orange face saying "Make it so."
"We have more stuff for you," the seven-year-old Picard announced.
The children ran to a large sack by the viewscreen, and began to extract
various Picard-related items, mostly dolls and drawings. They filed up, one
by one, and presented their work to Picard, who was obligated to say
something nice about each one, and then carefully place it on the floor next
to him.
"That's all of the time that we have now," Mrs. Claire told the children
once they had all presented their work. "Captain Picard is very busy." She
looked up at the ceiling and said, "End program." The Enterprise bridge
disappeared, replaced by the yellow-on-black holodeck grid, and the metal
doors at one end slid open, revealing the corridor beyond.
"Goodbye, Captain Picard," the children chorused as Mrs. Claire herded
them out of the door and back to the classroom. As soon as the door slid
shut behind them, Picard let out a huge sigh.
"I had no idea that they were going to make this into a regular thing,"
he said, rubbing his hand over his face.
"Oh, come on, Jean-Luc," smiled Crusher. "That play was the cutest
thing that I've seen in months."
"And look at all of these things that the children made," pointed out
Deanna, gesturing to the pile of gifts. "You know that they spent weeks on
some of these."
"I think it's damned silly," Picard told them. "Spending weeks on dolls
of me? Don't they have anything to learn?"
"Admit it," Riker said. "You're flattered by the attention."
Picard shook his head, smiled slightly, and stood up. "I'm glad Data's
getting back today," he said. "I can count on him to look at this entire
`Captain Picard Day' thing rationally."
"Data loved the last Captain Picard Day," Geordi put in. "He spent half
an hour talking to me and comparing it to historical examples of hero
admiration."
Picard sighed, and was about to say something when a voice cut in over
the ship's intercom. "Bridge to Captain Picard."
"Picard here," the captain responded automatically.
"We've entered into orbit of Vulcan, sir."
Picard nodded. "Prepare to beam Commander Data and his guest into
Transporter Room Three," he replied. "I'll meet them there."
The woman who materialized out of the blue transporter haze was taller
than Data. She was thin, but not overly so; she merely had the typical
spare Vulcan physique. As soon as she materialized, she took in the
transporter room and its occupants with a quick, curious glance.
Picard stepped forward, smiling. "Welcome aboard the Enterprise, Dr.
Sedyn," he greeted her. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard."
"It is gratifying to meet you, Captain," Sedyn responded, stepping off of
the platform. "Commander Data has told me a great deal about you." And
then, to Picard's surprise, she took his hand and shook it, in contradiction
to the usual Vulcan reservation about touching others.
Noting Picard's surprised expresion, she stopped herself and explained,
"I have spent a significant portion of my life offworld. I have learned to
adapt to the social customs of other cultures."
"I see," Picard said. "In that case, it should be mucyh easier for you
to adjust to the Enterprise." Turning to Data, he said, "See about getting
Dr. Sedyn some guest quarters. There will be a briefing at 1300 concerning
our upcoming exploration mission in the Nacyra Sector."
Data nodded, then looked at something over Picard's shoulder. "If I
may inquire, sir," he asked, "did the children celebrate another `Captain
Picard Day' while I was absent?"
Picard looked behind him, and saw a doll that he had carelessly left by
the transporter console in his haste to get to the room. "Er, yes, yes, they
did," he said quickly, then snatched up the doll. "If there's nothing further,
I'll see both of you at 1300." He turned and exited the transporter room a
bit more quickly than necessary.
Sedyn raised an eyebrow.
Picard sat in his ready room, going over a report on the Nacyra Sector.
"Preliminary reports indicate at least five distinct cultures centered around
the binary star system of Nacyra Prime," he read. "Trading relations
between the cultures date back to at least blah blah blah did the children
embarrass you, Jean-Luc?"
Picard blinked at the console. The words were now fading, dissolving
into what looked like a face. An all too familiar face.
Q grinned on Picard's console. "They did embarrass you, didn't they?"
he asked.
"What are you doing here, Q?" Picard demanded.
"Oh, only a visit," the omnipotent being replied as he flashed into
existence in front of Picard's desk. "I just wanted to stop by, check up on
all of you. So do tell me, how has everyone been? Planning to get some
hair anytime soon? Has Worf evolved past the gorilla stage yet?"
"You know exactly how we've been," Picard told him. "You've been
watching us for a while, haven't you?"
"Oh no," Q said, waving a hand. "Not long, not long at all. Your
precious Guinan would have sensed me. Just long enough to see this
`Captain Picard Day' of yours. It's a cute little hero worship cult. It
reminds me of someone else, let me think..." Q scratched his head for a
moment in feigned concentration, then snapped his fingers. "Oh, yes. I
was thinking of Adolf Hitler."
"Q, it was not my idea."
Q gave Picard an amused look. "I know that," he said patronizingly.
"You're just extremely sensitive about it, as shown by how defensive you
just got. That, and your quick retreat from the Vulcan visitor."
"Q, you-"
"I-E-T?" Q asked, cutting him off. "I don't need to be quiet. I know
exactly what you're going to say." He picked up the Picard doll and held it
next to his face. "Q, I want you to stop harrassing my crew," he intoned in
a fair imitation of Picard's voice. "We are not playthings for your
amusement. We are the flagship of the Federation... I don't know," he
continued in his own voice. "All of that pompous, self-important tripe that
you always throw at me."
"What do you expect me to do?" Picard asked. "Sit here and discuss
with you the mysteries of the universe, the follies of humanity? I don't have
time for that."
Q smiled. "I think that you'd like to do that more than you admit. You
have enough of an explorer's soul that you would love to hear about
anything that I could tell you. But," he sighed, "you're also too stuffy to
concede it. So, the secrets of the universe will have to remain unrevealed."
"Then what are you here for?" Picard asked.
"I already told you. Just a friendly visit. No more, no less."
"I find that hard to believe," Picard told him. "Every time you've shown
up here, you've harrassed us, tested us, taken us away from what we were
doing and put us in a scenario for your amusement."
Q raised an eyebrow. "For my amusement?" he repeated. "Surely you
don't imagine that my motives have been so completely shallow. What if I
hadn't thrown you into Borg space, given you a look at them before they
reached your precious Federation? They would have caught you
completely by surprise. You, Jean-Luc, should know better than anyone
how close you came to defeat."
Jean-Luc shook his head. "If you're trying to unsettle me by reminding
me of Locutus, it won't work," he said. "I've managed to get past all of
that." But all the same, he felt a very, very faint chill along his back at
the reminder of his enslavement.
Q shrugged. "Have it your way. Believe it or not, I'm not trying to
antagonize you. I'll let you go on with your precious mission in the Nacyra
Sector. You'll have plenty to deal with there as it is."
"What do you mean by that?" Picard asked.
Q grinned. "You'll find out soon enough. Don't worry, I'll be back."
And with that, he vanished.
Q PLUS Q - Part 2
"The Nacyra Sector lies at the edge of explored space," Data
reported, standing beside a star map in the conference room. "It is
located near Romulan space; however, the Romulans have not made any
exploration into that sector for fifteen years, ever since a warbird entered
the sector and did not return. The reasons for the warbird's
disappearance and the unwillingness of the Romulans to further explore
the sector are unknown, although there has been considerable
speculation."
"The consensus among Vulcan scholars is that the Romulans
found nothing valuable in that sector which was worth exploiting," Sedyn
put in. "The disappearance of the warbird is far from certain, as it was
detected only by long-range sensors and may have returned to the Empire
cloaked."
"That is very possible," Data agreed. "Less prosaic theories
include the possibility that the Borg inhabit this sector, and used it as a
base to launch their raids on the Neutral Zone. It has also been
speculated that there is some type of spatial anomaly which destroyed the
warbird. Others have pointed to local legends concerning the Cvadak,
which are mythological figures that..."
"That's enough, Mr. Data," Picard cut in. "Continue with the
briefing."
"Yes, sir," Data replied without missing a beat. "Preliminary
explorations have detected eleven M-Class planets with ecosystems, five
of which support technical civilizations. Our mission is to conduct more
detailed exploration of these planets, specifically their ecology and
sociology. Dr. Sedyn of the Vulcan Science Academy, one of the
Federation's premier exobiologists, has joined us for this survey." Sedyn
nodded in acknowledgment.
"Thank you, Mr. Data," Picard said. "Before we adjourn, I
should warn everyone that I have just been paid a visit by Q."
"Q?" Riker asked. "What did he want?"
"He said he came only to pay a visit," Picard replied. "But
knowing Q, I highly doubt that. He insulted me, gave me a veiled
warning about the Nacyra Sector, and left."
Data, who had sat down by Sedyn in the meantime, now turned to
her and said in an undertone, "The being referred to as Q is a-"
Data suddenly disappeared in a white flash and reappeared at the
foot of the table. Q was sitting in Data's chair, in the same position that
Data had been, turned toward Sedyn. "You know who I am," he said.
"Don't you?"
"What are you doing here, Q?" Picard demanded.
"Oh, do be quiet," Q said, waving a hand in Picard's direction
without actually looking at him. "I'm talking with your visitor here; it's
refreshing to speak to a mortal who isn't a human for a change. So tell
me Doctor, who am I?"
Sedyn did not seem to have lost any of her Vulcan calm. "You
are the entity known as Q," she responded. "I have acquainted myself
with you and those of your kind in various studies of near-omnipotent
beings."
Q pushed himself back from the table, leaned back, and put up his
feet. "Near-omnipotent?" he asked in an injured voice. "You wound me,
Doctor. Believe me, I am completely omnipotent. Omnipotent and
omniscient."
"I cannot logically take your statement as true," Sedyn replied,
"as the concept of omnipotence implies infinities, which are inherently
contradictory in non-mathematical circumstances. There is, most
notably, the ancient paradox involving the creation of an object of
sufficient mass that it cannot be moved."
Q smiled at her. "You Vulcans are so very difficult to impress,"
he noted. "What if I were to take you back to Vulcan right now? Even
better, Vulcan three thousand years in the past? Suppose you and I stood
on the peak of Mount Sadaya and watched the armies below? Would
that impress you?"
"It would provide significant evidence of your ability to
manipulate space and time," Sedyn replied, "which would be consistent
with what I know of you. However, my awe of you or lack thereof
would not be of great consequence, as we would probably be beheaded
as witches within short order." This last statement was delivered with a
slight edge that, for a Vulcan, was a piercing verbal jab.
Q smiled. "You're good," he admitted. "Better than I thought a
Vulcan would be."
"That's enough," Picard said, standing up. "Q, what is the point
of all of this?"
Q looked up at Picard. "The point of all what?" he asked, eyes
innocently wide.
"The point of you being here in the first place," Worf growled.
Q turned to Worf. "I wondered how long it would be before
you'd give me some crushing verbal blow," he remarked. "The problem
with all of you is that you see me as such an annoyance. You never think
of everything that I could do to help you."
"You don't make it very easy for us to see you otherwise," Riker
pointed out.
"All right," Q said, sitting back up. "Let me try to impress you,
my dear doctor. Your graduate thesis was on..." he paused for a
moment. "Ah. Extinct Earth reptiles. Dinosaurs." He waved a casual
hand, and a creature appeared in a flash of white light.
It resembled a large lizard, standing about three feet high on its
hind legs and covered with mottled green scales. Its tail swung back and
forth in the air, and its head swung around on a long, curving neck. It
looked around unsurely at the Enterprise crew.
"There you are," Q announced. "This is what you know as a
Podekosaurus. A live animal in the flesh. Wouldn't you rather study this,
Doctor, than to have to drill through old bones, do fragmentary DNA
analyses, make conjectures based on such scanty evidence?" Sedyn
seemed about to say something, but Picard cut her off.
"Q, your tricks have ceased to be amusing," the captain said in a
deceptively calm voice. "Get rid of it. Now."
Q looked up at Picard and slowly shook his head. "Very well," he
sighed. "I offer you the wonders of the universe, and you reject it out of
hand." He turned to the dinosaur and commanded "Begone" with a wave
of his hand. The reptile disappeared in a white flash.
"You want me to be serious, Picard?" Q asked, standing up.
"Then I'll be serious. Your ship will enter the Nacyra sector in about four
hours."
"Approximately four hours, seven minutes, and fifty-three
seconds," Data corrected.
"Thank you," Q said, rolling his eyes. "Fairly soon after you enter
the sector, you'll start to encounter things unlike anything you've seen
before. I'm here as an observer. I'm here to see how you deal with what
you find."
"Is this another test of yours, Q?" Riker asked.
"Oh, please," Q grimaced. "If you have to ask stupid questions
like that, then I'll be amazed if you get out of the sector alive. The Q
Continuum had nothing to do with creating what you'll find there. We
just want to know how you'll handle it."
Data cocked his head slightly in an expression of curiosity. "On
any number of occasions, we have been faced with phenomena that we
have never encountered before, and we have been forced to deal with
them on an improvisatory basis. What distinguishes this instance enough
for the Q Continuum to take such an interest in it?"
Q smiled and spread his hands. "I can't tell you that, now can I?
That would just spoil all of the fun. There are some things that Jean-Luc
and his intrepid crew will have to figure out for themselves."
And with that, he vanished.
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, then Picard
straightened his uniform top in a businesslike gesture. "All right," he
said. "It seems that Q's given us a challenge. We had better be up to it.
Put the ship on yellow alert, Number One."
Riker nodded.
"Mr. Data, I want you to start conducting sensor sweeps of the
surrounding area. As soon as you find anything unusual, let me know
immediately."
"Aye, sir."
"Very well," Picard said. "It would seem, Dr. Sedyn, that you
may be in for a more adventurous journey than we had expected."
"One of Surak's teachings," Sedyn replied, still calm, "was that
any new situation, even a dangerous one, contains a great opportunity for
the amassing of new knowledge."
"Let's hope that we can all look at it that way. Dismissed."
One by one, the officers filed out of the conference room.
As the Enterprise sped through space at warp seven, Q was
alongside it.
He was not in physical form, of course; that would have been a
little awkward to keep up in the cold vacuum of space, and considerably
more awkward to handle while traveling in the altered space of warp
drive. He was in his natural state of pure thought.
As he watched the blue-gray metal exterior of the ship, he also
saw its inside. He saw Jean-Luc and the others getting ready for
whatever they might find. They had no clue what was going on, of
course; all they knew was that something was out there. Q thought it
amusing to see what speculations they had. The Borg? A spatial
anomaly? The truth was so obvious, but he could not expect them to
deduce it. They would have to wait and see.
Q now turned his attention from the ship to the space ahead. He
sent tendrils of thought probing out into the light-years ahead, and the
message quickly returned. She was there. No doubt she was doing the
same things that he was to prepare.
This was going to be very interesting.
Q PLUS Q - Part 3
"We'll enter the Nacyra Sector in approximately one minute,"
announced Ensign Gates.
"Very well," Picard said. "Maintain yellow alert." The stars
sped by on the viewscreen as the ship hurtled forward into...into
something that Picard was not even going to guess at. The rest of the
bridge crew was either staring forward at the viewscreen or trying to
distract themselves by looking busy at the consoles.
"We are now entering the Nacyra Sector." There was a
collective drawing in of breath at this announcement, and after a few
seconds, everyone slowly breathed out.
"Are the sensors picking up anything unusual, Mr. Data?" Picard
asked.
"Negative, Captain. All readings are consistent with the
preliminary long-range scans of this sector."
"It is illogical to assume that the phenomenon which Q spoke of
lies so near the sector boundary," Sedyn remarked from the science
station. "Sectors are, after all, designated arbitrarily by stellar
cartographers. We will most likely encounter whatever there may be
farther within its bounds."
Picard nodded. "That's a good point," he conceded. "And a
good way to remind us that we can't be distracted from our current
mission. What's the first planet on our itinerary, Mr. Data?"
"Zeta Nacyra V, Captain. An M-class planet harboring no
intelligent civilizations."
"In that case, lay in a course for Zeta Nacyra V. Whatever Q has
in store for us, it will show up when it's good and ready."
Data turned from his console and addressed Sedyn. "Perhaps we
should go over the preliminary ecological reports on Zeta Nacyra V
before we arrive," he suggested.
Sedyn nodded, and began to move from her station when she
suddenly stopped. She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her
temple.
"Are you quite all right, Doctor?" Data asked.
"Yes," Sedyn told him, opening her eyes. "Yes, I am fine." She
paused for a moment, then said, "If you'll excuse me, I think that I will
retire to my quarters for a while. Commander, if it's not inconvenient, I
will meet you in half an hour."
"Of course," Data replied, nonplused.
Sedyn turned and walked to the turbolift with even, measured
strides, the picture of Vulcan control. It wasn't until the doors swished
shut behind her that she collapsed against the wall.
"What was that all about?" asked Riker.
"Just before she left, I caught a feeling from her," Deanna said.
"She was in terrible pain."
"Pain?" asked Picard. "From what?"
"I don't know. It was very sudden. It seemed to be a mental
pain, as opposed to a physical one."
"Perhaps you should follow her and attempt to help her," Data
suggested.
Deanna shook her head slowly. "It's been my experience with
Vulcans that one shouldn't try to help them unless they ask for it first.
They have their own mental disciplines, their own ways of dealing with
things, and non-Vulcans often just get in the way. Not to mention that
most Vulcans are far too proud to accept help from others unless they
truly need it."
Sedyn stumbled into her quarters. She did not understand what
was going on; her mind had suddenly felt as though it was being
assaulted from the outside. Vague sensations were intruding themselves
upon her; warm, red, angry. She paused to breathe for a moment, then
forced herself to calmly order the computer to dim the lights and lock
the door.
She walked over to her small pack, still unopened. She peeled
the adhesive plastic strip off, and the cloth fell open, revealing a small
assortment of items. She found her black meditation robe, and shook it
open.
She continued to breathe deeply as she removed her dull green
tunic and replaced it with the robe. She sat on the floor crosslegged,
arched her back stiffly, and concentrated on calming her mind,
acknowledging the sensations and working through them. Breathe in.
Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
She was going deeper into herself, deeper into the hot redness
that beat at her. Through layers of thought spun like spiderwebs, into
the core...and...
He was there.
"Who else did you expect?" asked Q, grinning impishly in her
mind's eye.
"Are you doing this to me?" Sedyn asked him, managing to keep
any trace of anger out of her voice.
"Of course not," Q rolled his eyes at her. "I thought you
Vulcans were supposed to be bright. Why would I do this to you?"
"On any number of occasions, your actions have seemingly been
without any rationale whatsoever," she replied. She forced herself to
concentrate on the dialogue; nothing else, just the dialogue. But it was
hard to stand firm in the midst of this red heat that was trying to
swallow her.
"We hadn't counted on this happening to you," Q noted. "I
thought that your Counselor Troi might be more at risk. But then, that's
the point of all of this. To see how different the real thing is from our
predictions."
"Counselor Troi and I have nothing in common," Sedyn
pondered, "except...except that we are both low-level telepaths. These
are telepathic transmissions that I am receiving, aren't they?"
Q grinned. "Good," he said. "Very good. It looks like these
transmissions are more compatible with Vulcan than Betazoid telepathy.
Your people are usually exclusively touch-telepaths, which is why we
hadn't considered that they might affect you. But they obviously are."
Sedyn did not reply. The red heat was getting stronger. She had
to turn all of her conscious mind to keep it in check now.
Q frowned in thought for a moment. "We can't let this go on,
can we?" he asked, either to himself or Sedyn or both. "I'm not
permitted to change anything just yet, but I can show you how to shield
yourself. Here."
She felt as though there were hands guiding her, deep in her
mind. They took her hands gently along with them, showed her how to
build up a wall, one stronger than she could have hoped to achieve even
after hours of meditation. They set it up securely, blocked out the
redness, shunted it away, left her mind the way it had been, quiet and
cool and calm. Now there were only her and Q.
Sedyn continued to focus on her breathing for a moment,
calming herself, releasing the tension that the sensations had left behind.
"Thank you," she managed to say to Q.
"Don't thank me. It was a necessity. We can't have you out of
commission so early here in our little play."
"Do you consider this to be a play?" she asked him.
"All the world's a stage, my dear doctor," Q replied. "All the
universe, really."
Sedyn stopped herself before she automatically recited the act
and scene number from As You Like It. Instead she asked, "And who is
directing this play? You have used the word 'we' several times. It
would seem as though there is at least one other involved."
"Very perceptive, Doctor," Q congratulated her. "You aren't
nearly as dunderheaded as most of the humans. But I can't give that
much away. I'll just let you ponder it some more for now."
And then he was gone, and it was only Sedyn inside her head.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
"We're now entering orbit of Zeta Nacyra V."
"Assume standard orbit," Picard ordered reflexively. "Data,
have you spoken with Dr. Sedyn?"
"Negative, Captain," Data replied. "I attempted to contact her
from the exobiology lab twenty-seven minutes ago, when it had been
half an hour since her sudden disappearance. However, given the
circumstances, I elected not to continue to attempt reaching her."
"It's all right, Captain," came a voice from the turbolift. Sedyn
stepped into the room, the doors swishing shut behind her. "I am fully
recovered."
"What happened?" Riker asked.
"I was experiencing the side effects of some sort of telepathic
transmissions," she explained. "However, I managed to use Vulcan
meditation techniques to shield myself against them, and I am quite all
right now." For some reason, Sedyn decided not to mention Q's
assistance. After all, there was no logical need for them to know.
"What were these...transmissions like, Doctor?" Picard asked.
Sedyn paused in thought for a moment. "It would be difficult to
put them into words," she began. "There was no concrete information
being transmitted, but rather a number of sensory impressions. There
was nothing specific."
Picard turned to Deanna. "Are you picking up on any of these
impressions, Counselor?"
She shook her head. "Not at all. However, Vulcan and
Betazoid telepathy are very different. Whatever Sedyn was picking up
could be something like the Ferengi; something that I just can't sense."
"Captain," Data announced with as much alarm as he ever
showed, "we are being scanned."
"From where?" Picard instantly demanded.
"Uncertain," Data replied. "Some type of antineutrino beam is
being emitted from 113 mark 12; however, sensors show no ships in that
direction."
"Shall we raise shields, Captain?" Worf asked.
"Not yet, Mr. Worf. Data, can you get anything else on the
beam?"
"I am picking up some sort of energy signature." Data paused.
"I am attempting to isolate it...it appears to be Romulan."
"A cloaked ship," Riker realized.
"The most likely possibility," Data agreed.
"Raise the shields, Mr. Worf," Picard ordered. "But don't arm
any weapons yet. After all, this is unexplored space, beyond the Neutral
Zone. The Romulans have as much a right to be here as we do."
"The Romulans may not agree with you, Captain," Sedyn
disagreed. "Although they have not entered the Nacyra Sector in over a
decade, I believe that they do consider it to be tributary space."
"We'll have to see. Open a channel, Mr. Worf."
"Aye, sir."
"Romulan vessel, this is the U.S.S. Enterprise. Please respond."
"The vessel is decloaking, sir," Data reported.
On the viewscreen, the familiar green shape rippled into view out
of the starscape. A moment later, it was replaced by the Romulan
captain, a stern-faced man of middle age. He stared forward with glassy
eyes, not making the least motion.
After a few seconds of silence, Picard spoke again. "I am
Captain Jean-Luc Picard. What is your business in this sector?"
The Romulan captain slowly stood, still staring forward. And
then, on the viewscreen, his features seemed to shift. Within moments,
his face and body had changed to become exact duplicates of Picard's.
"I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard," the figure spoke, in tones
identical to those Picard had just used. "What is your business in this
sector?"
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